


a lullaby of steam and time

by ProfessorESP



Category: Girl Genius
Genre: (because I'm always a slut for fairy tales), Character Death, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Style, Gen, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 11:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5927266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessorESP/pseuds/ProfessorESP
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five stories about Siblings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. do you drink the water or the wave?

Two siblings, a prince and princess, became lost in the wastelands. They wandered for hours and hours, lost and alone, until they came to a spring in the middle of the woods.

“I am so thirsty,” said the princess.

“Oh, but do not drink from this spring,” said her brother, “for you will turn to glass and shatter.”

The princess sighed, but agreed, and they walked until she grew too tired to continue. They stopped by a spring in the middle of a valley, but when she bent to drink from it her brother pulled her away from the water.

“I am so thirsty,” she said.

“Oh dear sister, do not drink from this stream, for you will turn to stone and crack.”

The princess was desperate for water, but she let her brother pull her away. He walked further, carrying her in his arms, until he too grew too tired to walk. He lay her down by a spring in the mountains, but when she bent to drink he cried out to her.

“Dear sister, please do not drink from this stream, for you will turn to steel and rust.”

“That would be better than this thirst!” she proclaimed, and drank. Scarcely had the water touched her lips when she began to change. Her joints groaned and sparked, her eyes rolled in their sockets like glass balls, and her smile stuck in place like a doll’s. 

She picked up her brother and carried him the rest of the way home in her arms, never stopping or tiring. Through the entire journey, the prince never wept, for he was afraid his tears would make her rust. By the time they reached home, he had forgotten how to cry at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly influenced by the Brothers Grimm's Brother and Sister, with additional influence from the Heterodyne Boys play excerpt in the second novel that named a character as "the servant made of glass."


	2. blame it on the roses, blame it on the red

In a distant kingdom there lived a girl whose brother had died when they were both very young. It drove her parents mad with grief, and they disappeared not long after. Her uncle often traveled in search of them, but before he left he always asked his niece if she wanted him to bring her back a gift.

“Just the seed of the first flower you see on the road,” she said.

He went on many journeys and brought her many seeds, and she planted them all in the garden behind the house, next to her brother’s grave. By the time her uncle disappeared years later, she had every flower known to man, and a few that were not.

Months passed, and she heard news of a ball being thrown in honor of a young nobleman’s son. “I wish I could go,” said she.

“Then you shall, then you shall,” said the lilies. They dressed her as well as a wealthy man’s daughter and sent her to the ball. She danced with grace and charmed the young nobleman’s son. At midnight, he asked her to marry him, but she laughed and disappeared into the night.

Months passed, and she heard news of a ball being thrown in honor of a young prince. “I wish I could go,” said she.

“Then you shall, then you shall,” said the roses. They dressed her as well as a nobleman’s daughter and sent her to the ball. She danced with joy and charmed the young prince. At midnight, he asked her to stay, but she laughed and disappeared into the night.

Months passed, and she heard of a ball being thrown in remembrance of a lost king. “I wish I could go,” said she.

“Then you shall, then you shall,” said the Heliotropes. They dressed her as well as a prince’s daughter and sent her to the ball. She danced with enthusiasm and charmed the whole castle. At midnight, the young seneschal asked her the name of her parents, and when she told him, he took her hands in delight.

“You can be no other than the daughter of our lost king,” said he. He begged her to stay, but she laughed and disappeared into the night.

The next day, the lilies in the garden rustled angrily. “Why did you laugh at the young nobleman?”

“Because he thought to know me,” said she, “and a peasant like myself could never be a match for a noble.”

The roses in the garden rustled angrily. “Why did you laugh at the young prince?”

“Because he thought to know me,” said she, “and a peasant like myself could never be friend to a prince.”

The heliotropes in the garden rustled angrily. “Why did you laugh at the young seneschal?”

“Because he thought to know me,” said she, “and a peasant like myself could never be the daughter of a king.”

“You could be and you are,” said the forget-me-nots, “for you are the daughter of the lost king and every bit their equal. I should know, for you planted me on the grave of his dead son, your brother.”

So she returned to crown herself as queen, and transplanted all her flowers into the palace gardens save for the forget-me-nots, whom she left to guard her brother’s grave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Largely based off of the Brothers Grimm's Cinderella, with some influence from the old witch's talking flowers in the Snow Queen.


	3. the gold hearted boy i used to be

Long ago, there lived a great and terrible beast that could only be killed by a someone with the strength of three men. A young hero, the eldest of three brothers, thought himself strong enough, so he went to the beast’s lair and tried to slay it. It defeated him easily, but before he died he made one last request.

“Eat me if you wish,” said he, “but return my arms and legs to my family.”

The beast was amused by this request, so it did. His family mourned him for several days, and the second brother vowed to avenge him. He armed himself and went to the beast’s lair, but he too was no match for its power. As he lay defeated, he made one final request.

“Eat me if you wish,” said he, “but return my chest to my family.”

The beast laughed at his request, so similar to his brother’s, but he did so. His family mourned him for days, and the youngest vowed to avenge both his brothers. He armed himself and went to the beast’s cave, but he too was no match, and he too made a request as he lay dying.

“Eat me if you wish,” said he, “but return my head to my family.”

The beast thought this request the funniest of all, so it left the third brother’s head to his family. Little did it know that the men’s mother was a skilled seamstress. She was able to sew all the parts of her sons together to bring the youngest back to life. Now possessing the strength of all three brothers, he went to the beast’s cave and killed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprisingly, this one is entirely of my own making. It owes a little to the classic trope of the older brothers failing before the youngest tries, but it's not exactly played straight, either.


	4. with sugared feet we flee the captors

Once there were a prince and princess who were twins. Their father took the prince and left for his own kingdom, leaving the queen to raise her daughter alone. The princess grew into a strong warrior and resolved to quest for her lost twin. Her mother warned her that should she leave the kingdom, she would be unable to find her way home until she found her brother again. The princess dismissed her mother’s warning and set out. 

She wandered for a year and a day, until she began to miss her home terribly. But every time she tried to ask for help finding her home, she found herself mute. Another year and a day passed without any luck in finding her home or her lost brother. The princess despaired that she would never return home. 

She found work defending the castle of a powerful king. He gave her the keys to all the doors in the castle, and told her she could open every door but one, which was forbidden to her. Left on her own, the princess quickly started opening doors. She found something magical behind each one: an army of glass monsters, the bones of a giant beast, a tiny thundercloud so small she could hold it in her hands. But the princess grew bored, and curiosity overcame her. She waited for the king to leave on business, then opened the forbidden door. 

On the other side she found a young prince. He explained that his father the king, fearing for his son’s safety, locked him up in the room and never let him out. The princess decided to help him escape, but as soon as they stepped through the door a great howl came from the distance.

“That is my father!” the prince said. He and the princess ran as fast as they could, but the king had turned himself into a wolf, and he soon caught up with them. The prince bit his finger and spat his blood onto the ground. Out of the earth sprang a huge, white dragon that breathed fire on the wolf-king. 

The prince and princess kept running, for they knew the dragon would not stop the wolf-king forever, and they were right, for they heard the howling of the wolf-king’s victory soon enough. Again the prince bit his finger, and again he spat his blood on the ground. Out of the earth rose a terrible, white skull with rolling black eyes. Wind blew from its mouth and pushed the wolf-king over the horizon, but before long he had caught up to the prince and princess again. The prince bit his finger, and the princess cut herself with her knife, and when their blood hit the ground two things happened at once: a bolt of powerful, white lightning struck the wolf-king as the earth opened up and swallowed the prince and princess.

They fell and fell and fell, and finally the dark earth spat them out in front of the princess’ palace. Her mother rushed out to greet them, and to their shock and her delight, she recognized the prince as her long lost son. They told her of the castle, and the forbidden doors, and the escape from the wolf-king, and when they finished the queen despaired at what her husband had become.

“What a foolish man,” she said. “He should know better than anyone that you cannot tame the children of a wolf.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of a combo of the doors from the Lassie and her Godmother plus the chase scene in Snow-White-Fire-Red.


	5. drop a lifelong curse on your own last name

Once there lived two brothers. Their mother loved them dearly, but their father was not very fond of them. He decided that it would be best to get rid of them and start over, so he took his sons deep into the forest and abandoned them there to be eaten by the wolves.

Fortunately, their mother had figured out their father’s plans and had given the boys each a bag of stones to mark their way into the forest with. The boys followed the trail as best they could, but as night fell it grew more and more difficult. When they finally reached home, they discovered both of their parents dead. In their absence, their mother had poisoned their dinner so that their father would never put the two boys in danger again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much entirely Hansel and Gretel, just with a.... different ending. And much shorter.


End file.
